After graduating, he worked in journalism for six years. Some places he worked at included WNYG (AM) and News 12 Long Island. He also had a brief stint working for the Town of Hempstead and Town of Oyster Bay as an assistant.[5]
New York Assembly
After Steven L. Labriola was elected Town Clerk of Oyster Bay, on March 14, 2004, Saladino was elected defeating his Democratic candidate William R. Funk.[6] He won later that year in the general election with about the same percentage, against the same person.[7] He won every election since with at least 2/3 of the vote. After representing Assembly District 12, he was redistricted into District 9 in 2012 and was elected to represent that district.[8]
In the State Assembly, he was a strong advocate for the passing of Megan's Law in New York, and introduced bills related to drug abuse prevention.[9]
Town Supervisor
After John Venditto resigned because he was facing federal corruption charges, the Town Board voted near-unanimously to appoint Saladino as Town Supervisor. He was sworn in by State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Bucaria on January 31, 2017, and he immediately changed leadership around the executive.[10] Within the first month of being appointed, he merged the sanitation, recycling, engineering, highway, vehicle maintenance departments to form the Department of Public Works, reorganized the building department to increase efficiency, and created a Board of Ethics.[5] In the 2018 budget, he lowered spending, slashed the debt, and cut property taxes, something he has wanted done in the state government as well.[11]
Saladino won his first election as Supervisor in November 2017 with just under 52% of the vote in a five-way election, and in 2019 he received 58% of the vote, against his Town Clerk, James Altadonna, Jr.[12] He was re-elected in November 2023 against Democrat Jared Behr.
